CHAP. UI.] CEYLON AS KNOWN TO THE CHINESE. 627 



some foreigners. The book is called Ying-hwan-che-ke, or 

 " The General Account of the Encircling Ocean." 



" Seih-lan is situated in Southern India, and is a large 

 island in the sea, on the south-east coast, its circumference 

 being about 1000 le (300 miles), having in the centre lofty 

 mountains ; on the coast the land is low and marshy. The 

 country is characterised by much rain and constant thunder. 

 The hills and valleys are beautifully ornamented with 

 flowers and trees of great variety and beauty, the cries of 

 the animals rejoicing together fill the air with gladness, and 

 the landscape abounds with splendour. In the forests are 

 many elephants, and the natives use them instead of draught 

 oxen or horses. The people are all of the Buddhistic religion ; 

 it is said that Buddha was born here : he was born with an 

 excessive number of teeth. The grain is not sufficient for the 

 inhabitants, and they depend for food on the various districts 

 of India. Gems are found in the hills, and pearls on the sea 

 coast ; the cinnamon that is produced in the country is excellent, 

 and much superior to that of Kwang-se. In the middle of the 

 Ming dynasty, the Portuguese seized upon Seih-lan and esta- 

 blished marts on the sea coast, which by schemes the Hol- 

 landers took from them. In the first year of Kia-King (1795), 

 the English drove out the Hollanders and took possession of 

 the sea coast. At this time the people of Seih-lan, on account 

 of their various calamities or invasions, lost heart. Their city 

 on the coast, called Colombo, was attacked by the English, and 

 the inhabitants were dispersed or driven away ; then the whole 

 island fell into the hands of the English, who eventually sub- 

 jected it. The harbour for rendezvous on the coast is called 

 Ting-ko-ma-le." 



To this the Chinese commentator adds, on the authority of a 

 work, from which he quotes, entitled, " A Treatise on the 

 Diseases of all the Kingdoms of the Earth : "- 



" The Kingdom of Seih-lan was anciently called Lang-ya- 

 sew ; the passage from Soo-mun-ta-che (Sumatra), with a 

 favourable wind, is twelve days and nights; the country is 

 extensive, and the people numerous, and the products abun- 

 dant, but inferior to Kwa-wa (Java). In the centre are lofty 

 mountains, which yield the A-kiih (crow and pigeon) gems; 

 after every storm of rain they are washed down from the 

 hills, and gathered among the sand. From Chang-tsun, Lin- 

 yih in the extreme west, can be seen. In the foreign language, 



